BJP’s claims about Shagun scheme misleading: Shandil
Shimla, July 18
Health, Social Justice and Empowerment Minister Dhani Ram Shandil here today hit out at Leader of the Opposition Jai Ram Thakur and other BJP leaders for making “baseless and misleading claims” regarding the Shagun Yojana. He said unfounded allegations had been made in an attempt to mislead people and undermine the progress and positive impact the present state government had made under the leadership of Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu.
Shandil said the state government had made a provision of Rs 18.95 crore under the Shagun Scheme in 2023-2024. Out of this, Rs 14.45 crore was disbursed. “Each eligible daughter has been given Rs 31,000 as Shagun for her marriage. During the financial year, 4,662 daughters have benefited under the scheme,” he added.
Shandil said the government had increased the budget provision for the Shagun Scheme to Rs 30.40 crore for the current financial year which is Rs 12 crore more than the allocation made last year. “This demonstrates our commitment to supporting our daughters and their families,” he added.
He said that a temporary delay in disbursing benefits was due to the enforcement of the Model Code of Conduct in view of the Lok Sabha elections and the Assembly byelections. This delay was procedural.
He said after the elections, the state government has promptly released Rs 20.17 crore to all District Programme Officers (DPOs) to ensure that the benefits reach the eligible beneficiaries.
Shandil said the state government had started many other schemes giving priority to the welfare of women due to which they are becoming self-reliant. “The Indira Gandhi Pyari Behna Mahila Sukh Samman Nidhi Yojana has been started with the objective of providing Rs 1,500 per month i.e. Rs 18,000 per year to every eligible woman of the state. As many as 2,85,000 women have been benefited by this scheme. Apart from this, the state government is spending about Rs 1,330 crore annually on social security pension under which nearly 8,24,000 old women, widows and single women have been benefitted in the state,” he added.
